Police investigating possible arson
A fire in the communal stairway of a building in the Exeter area of Exeter in the early hours of Tuesday morning is being treated as arson.
Fire crews from Middlemoor and the central Exeter station, Danes Castle, responded to reports of people being trapped at a house in Lakelands Drive at around 1.40 a.m. A fire control operator stayed on the phone to the caller to provide advice until crews arrived, as occupants were unable to get out because of the smoke.
The fire was located in the ground floor communal area of the three-storey residential building and after being put out, a pressure ventilation fan was used to clear the building of smoke. Fifty per cent of the communal area on the ground floor has been damaged by fire and all of it affected by smoke. More smoke damage affected the first floor too.
As the fire is thought to have been lit deliberately, the police and fire services are investigating further.
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